Taiwan Jones back at running back for shorthanded Raiders

Taiwan Jones has mostly been a special teams player for the Raiders in the last couple of years, but he did come to Oakland with designs on playing a role on the offense as well.

Those hopes appeared to be dashed in the offseason when the Raiders decided to move Jones from running back to cornerback, but there might be a revival in the works. Steve Corkran of the Bay Area News Group reports that Jones was working at running back for the Raiders during Wednesday’s practice.

Part of the reason for that might be that Darren McFadden wasn’t working at any position. We are long past the point that it is newsworthy when McFadden, who has battled hamstring issues most of the season, misses a practice, but it merits a mention because Rashad Jennings is coming off of a concussion suffered on Thanksgiving. Jennings was at practice on Wednesday, but it is unclear where he stands in the concussion protocol process

The Raiders would be short even if he’s fully cleared. Running back Jeremy Stewart missed practice on Wednesday as well. He injured his knee and ankle against the Cowboys, making it a clean sweep of Raiders tailbacks on the injury report.

9 Responses to “Taiwan Jones back at running back for shorthanded Raiders”

open1337 says:Dec 4, 2013 3:34 PM

Good news. Under utilized

jahmic says:Dec 4, 2013 3:43 PM

Amazing, when you see this really go, he has 6th gear. In his rookie year, he did have a bit of fumbleitish, but good teaching should take care of that. I think, Allen (you know, the coach), is fully at fault for not realizing the potential of the kid and of developing into something. For him to become an every down back, he needs to work the weights, but with the right type of coaching, this guy could be unbelievable.

1nationraidernation says:Dec 4, 2013 4:10 PM

oh, I don’t want any excuses at all from Jennings, and all the fans who said he is “da man”……suit up and play against the #1 run defense, and prove me wrong, and all those fans who rip on DMC and sing your praises right.

Same goes for McGloin….I want to see him play against some teams with a winning record…. prove me wrong please…. I want to be a believer but i have my doubts.

Taiwan is a special teams stud. That’s it. That’s not the fault of the coach or the oline. He’s not an NFL running back.

And will my fellow Raider fans stop defending DMC. Jennings, Reece, Goodson. They all had the same oline and the same coaches as McFadden, only difference is they did something with nothing, while McFadden either got under 3 yards a carry or dressed in street clothes on game day.

It’s sad DMC is a walking injury. He could have really been special. Now he’s either hurt or gets tackled by a passing hot dog wrapper.

nflofficeadmin says:Dec 4, 2013 5:01 PM

I still don’t understand how Allen can say he likes this team when he doesn’t even have a quarterback. You’re telling me you have your QB in place for years to come? No.